Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By : David Ringstrom
Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By: David Ringstrom

Overview of this book

David Ringstrom coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you!” after observing how many users carry out tasks inefficiently. In this book, you’ll learn how to get more done with less effort. This book will enable you to create resilient spreadsheets that are easy for others to use as well, while incorporating spreadsheet disaster preparedness techniques. The time-saving techniques covered in the book include creating custom shortcuts and icons to streamline repetitive tasks, as well as automating them with features such as Tables and Custom Views. You’ll see how Conditional Formatting enables you to apply colors, Cell icons, and other formatting on-demand as your data changes. You’ll be empowered to protect the integrity of spreadsheets and increase usability by implementing internal controls, and understand how to solve problems with What-If Analysis features. In addition, you’ll master new features and functions such as XLOOKUP, Dynamic Array functions, LET and LAMBDA, and Power Query, while learning how to leverage shortcuts and nuances in Excel. By the end of this book, you’ll have a broader awareness of how to avoid pitfalls in Excel. You’ll be empowered to work more effectively in Excel, having gained a deeper understanding of the frustrating oddities that can arise daily in Excel.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Improving Accessibility
6
Part 2:Spreadsheet Interactivity and Automation
12
Part 3: Data Analysis

Naming worksheet cells

Naming worksheet cells allows you to reference a cell or block of cells by way of a Name that you assign instead of a cell reference. You can use Names and cell references interchangeably in your spreadsheets. Excel offers four ways to assign Names to cells: Name Box, Create from Selection, Define Name, and Name Manager. There are a couple of rules to keep in mind:

  • Names must begin with a letter, underscore (_), or backslash (\), so 2024TAX is not a valid Name.
  • Names can be as short as a single letter, but you cannot assign the letters C or R as a name. This is because you when type C in the Name Box and press Enter Excel will select the current column, while R and Enter selects the current row.
  • Names cannot be the same as any cell reference, such as TAX2024. The last column in an Excel worksheet is XFD, so combining a word with one to three letters and a number together will constitute an invalid name.
  • Names cannot contain spaces, so TAX...